Powers/Abilities/Functions: The
Star Brand is a tattoo-like mark which appears upon the skin of
whoever possesses its power. Many of the Star Brand's powers
require the possessor to consciously will them into functioning;
the only involuntary power is the immortality it bestows,
allowing anyone with the Star Brand to recover from death. After
returning to life, the possessor takes upon the appearance of an
alien-like, pink-skinned creature, until the body heals more fully.

By willing it so, a Star Brand wielder may call
upon virtually any ability they can fathom; flight is one of the
easiest powers to attain, and several wielders have floated in
bed while asleep. The possessor can also summon superhuman
strength, powerful energy blasts, manipulation of matter,
teleportation, telepathy, the ability to resurrect others, and
prevent death itself from occuring. Wielders are limited by their
own imagination, and by how fully they believe in the Star Brand's power.

The Star Brand may also be transferred by the
one who possesses it to another part of their body (by placing it
over one's eye, the wielder gains vast superhuman vision
capabilities), or to another person. Whoever transfers the
Star Brand to another still retains 10% of the power they had.
Eventually, even this residue will run out, but only by extreme
abuse of the power. The Star Brand cannot be affixed to a
non-human object. The "Old Man"'s attempt to do so
caused The White Event that resulted in the appearance of
paranormals on Earth-148611, and Ken Connell's attempt to do so caused
"the Black Event", destroying Pittsburgh, and
re-shaping it into the PITT. Any attempt to transfer the
Star Brand to a non-human object will result in a similar destructive blast of energy.

First Appearance: Star Brand#1 (October, 1986)

History: (Star Brand#12 (fb)) - 500 years ago,
a "Dutch count" came to possess the Star Brand. Over the
centuries that followed, his power grew inside of him, until he
was unable to take it any more. On July 22, 1986, now an old man,
he attempted to transfer it to an asteroid. The resulting
explosion was seen in the skies above Earth, and came to be known
as "the White Event". Unknown to the "Old
Man", this blast of energy had traveled back in time 500 years, bestowing the Star Brand upon himself.

(Star Brand#1) - The Old Man decided to be rid of the Star Brand once and for all, and passed it on to Pittsburgh mechanic Ken Connell.

(Star Brand#2-5) - Over time, Connell began to
adjust to the Star Brand, and became something of a hero, all the
while debating with himself what to do with the great power that had been bestowed upon him.

(Star Brand#6-7) - But the Old Man returned,
claiming to be an alien, and demanded that Connell join him on a
mission to the other side of the universe to fight in an alien
war. Connell refused, and fought the Old Man off, realizing he
wasn't an alien. Connell seemingly killed the Old Man, and tossed his body into orbit.

(Star Brand#8-10/Star Brand Annual#1) - Connell continued to use the power, gaining greater control over it.

(Untold Tales of the New Universe: Star Brand#1) - Connell met Arden, an explorer from an alternate reality who made Ken aware of what the Star Brand had accomplished on other worlds, and showed him ways that he could use his power for some greater good.

(Star Brand#11)- Ultimately, he decided to
become his world's first "super-hero", calling himself
"Star Brand", and presenting himself to the public in a
costume. The entire world was astonished by his abilities, and his popularity soared.

(Star Brand#12/The PITT) - But at a comic book
convention in Pittsburgh on December 19, 1988, the Old Man
returned, and their fight destroyed the entire building, killing
hundreds of innocent bystanders. From contact with the Old Man,
Connell learned his true origins, and became convinced that he had
to remove the Star Brand once and for all. His friend Myron
Feldman suggested that he attempt to affix it to a barbell on the
other side of the moon. Not wanting to be too far from a
hospital, Connell instead flew only 10 miles up, then attempted
to pass the Star Brand to the barbell...and the explosion that
resulted destroyed Pittsburgh, raking the Earth's crust down to the core.

(Star Brand#13) - Two months later, Madeline
Felix gave birth to her and Connell's son, dying in the process.
Connell's son was born with the Star Brand inside of himself
already, quickly grew older, and became known as "the Starchild".

(Star Brand#14) - The Starchild then confronted
his father, and removed the Star Brand from him, driving him
insane. He also visited Roger Price, whom he had killed before,
brought him back to life, and gave him the Star Brand.

(Star Brand#15-16) - The Starchild learned more
about life on Earth, and decided to prevent anymore death from
ever occuring. However, Roger and Jane Price made him see that
it was wrong to deny humanity the release of death, and un-did
this, and also removed the Star Brand from Roger. He also visited
Jacob Burnley, and passed the Star Brand on to him.

(Star Brand#17) - Burnley attempted to un-do the
PITT, but found that even the Star Brand could not restore all that had been lost.

(Star Brand#19)- The Starchild came to the
realization that he, Connell, and the Old Man were all one
entity, and that the Star Brand had created itself during the
White Event. He removed all traces of the Star Brand from Burnley
and Price, and then merged with Connell and the Old Man to
prevent a chaotic disruption of the space/time continuum.
However, unknown to the Starchild, Jake Burnley had passed the
Star Brand onto American fighter pilot Lt. Jim Hanrahan.

(The War#3)- The merged Starchild entity sensed
Earth's distress as it lay on the verge of World War III. When
nuclear missiles were launched from four countries, the Starchild
used its powers to nullify their nuclear capability, saving the Earth.

(The War#4)- But the war continued. Disgusted
with humanity's propensity for destroying itself, the Starchild
nullified all weapons on the planet, and revealed itself to every
person on the planet, taking responsibility for the White Event, and the PITT.

(Quasar#31)- When the Earth-616 hero
Quasar became stranded in the New Universe, he learned of the
Star Brand, and sought Jim Hanrahan out to ask him to transfer
that power to him. Jim had resolved to never use his power, and
did not feel he could trust anyone else with it; but after hours
of talking, Quasar convinced him he was trustworthy. Quasar used
the Star Brand to return home, and falsely believed he had burned
it out of his system. In fact, he transferred it to his
girlfriend Kayla Ballantine when he embraced her, and his
remaining Star Brand lay hidden beneath his Quantum Bands.

(Quasar#33)- Kayla soon began to manifest the Star Brand's power, by floating in her sleep.

(Quasar#34) - When Kayla was assaulted by the Angler, she consciously activated the Star Brand for the first time, using it to hurl the Angler away from her.

(Quasar#36-38) - Kayla was brought to the planet
Scadam (along with her friend Holly Steckley) by Quagmire, who was
working for the Chief Examiner. The Chief Examiner wanted to
duplicate the Star Brand's power to defend his people from the
Black Fleet, but while analyzing the Star Brand's power, he was
destroyed. As the Black Fleet attacked, they assaulted Kayla, killing her.

(Quasar#39-43) - The Star Brand, as always,
restored her to life, and she used its power to destroy the Black
Fleet. She and Holly then spent several weeks trying to find a way back to Earth.

(Quasar#43) - In the White Room, the afterlife
for Protectors of the Universe, Quasar learned while battling the
Blue Marvel that he still possessed his 10% of the Star Brand, and
used it to defeat the Blue Marvel.

(Quasar#44-46) - Placing the Star Brand over his
eye, Quasar was able to find his pathway back to Earth, and used
it in battling Quagmire, Quantum, the Anti-Body, and the Presence.

(Quasar#47-48) - Just as he burned out the last
of his 10% of the Star Brand, Quasar finally recovered his lost
Quantum Bands. All that was left of his Star Brand was expended against the Possessor.

(Quasar#49) - Back on Earth, Kayla came into
conflict with Kismet, whom she savagely beat in combat. Wanting to
rid herself of the Star Brand, Kayla gave it to Holly -- only to learn "Holly" was really the Deviant Erishkigal!

(Quasar#50) - With the power of the Star Brand,
Erishkigal attempted to conquer the multiverse from the Nexus of
All Realities, and came into conflict with the Living Tribunal.
When the Living Tribunal's champion, the Silver Surfer, bested
hers, Quasar, she destroyed herself to prevent the Living
Tribunal from claiming the Star Brand. However, the Living
Tribunal did obtain it, and claimed he would dispose of it properly.

(Quasar#51-53) - Kayla soon learned that the Living Tribunal had "disposed" of the Star Brand by returning it to her.

(Starblast#1/Quasar#54) - Skeletron, sole
survivor of the Black Fleet, came looking for the entity who had
destroyed his people, and with his Starblasters, captured Kayla.

(Starblast#2/Quasar#55) - Skeletron brought
Kayla to the Stranger for study, and he determined that the
Star Brand was her power source, and that they should attempt to remove it.

(Starblast#3) - The Stranger appeared to Kayla
in a dream, claiming to be God, and convinced her to give him the Star Brand.

(Quasar#56) - While Kayla was transported to the
New Universe's Earth, the Stranger studied the Star Brand and
learned of its origins. Meanwhile, Skeletron journeyed into the
New Universe with the intention of absorbing all the Star Brand
energies on the New Universe Earth -- even if it meant killing
every paranormal!

(Starblast#4) - As Skeletron and the Stranger
fought, the Stranger teleported the New Universe's Earth into the
Earth-616 universe to protect it from Skeletron. Ultimately,
Skeletron was trapped within the now-lifeless New Universe, after
draining the Stranger of all his Star Brand energy.

(Quasar#57) - Before the Stranger could continue
his study of the New Universe's Earth, the Living Tribunal
appeared and erected a barrier to prevent the Star Brand energy
held there from infecting the Earth-616 universe. Kayla was
therefore left behind on the New Universe Earth.

Comments: Created by Jim Shooter and John Romita Jr. Explained by John Byrne and Tom Palmer.

In Untold Tales of the New Universe: Star Brand#1, mention is made of alternate reality versions of the Star Brand. These include:

Earth-886, where a female wielder uses its power to battle evil

Earth-723, where a musician uses the power to create music that united the people of his world

Earth-541, where the wielder became a monarch, ruling his world as a fascist

The New Universe possesses interesting
temporal characteristics. The White Event occurred on September
4, 1986, after which events moved in real-time, at least up to
the War, sometime in later 1989, or early 1990. They interacted
with the Marvel Universe in 1991-1992 of real time, and were last
seen in 1994, at the conclusion of the Star Blast saga. It's
unlikely that the characters of the NU will be seen again (a true
shame), but I'd like to think that they should somehow stay in
real-time. In addition, as the Prime One points out, since the
Living Tribunal has isolated them from the rest of the Universe,
they should be isolated from Eternity as well, meaning they won't
be a part of 'Marvel Time' (or lack thereof).--Snood.

byPrime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:The Star Brand should not be confused with:

Kenneth Connell, who used "Star Brand" as his alias, @ Star Brand#1

Jim Hanrahan was an American pilot whose
fighter plane fell from the sky during Jake Burnley's fight with
the Old Man. He was restored to life by Burnley, who unknowingly
passed the Star Brand on to him. Knowing the potential of the
power he bore, Hanrahan intended to seal it off and contain the
power within himself for the Earth's sake. However, when he met
Quasar, he was convinced by him to pass the Star Brand on so that
Quasar could return to his own universe. Hanrahan literally
jumped for joy when Quasar left with the Star Brand. -Star Brand#19, Quasar#31